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December 1, 2012

Insufficient Coverage

To the Editor: I agree with the Nov. 19 Editorial Commentary ("Ask for the Moon") about the level of federal disaster aid that's appropriate for the New York region. I find Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $30 billion request shocking and ridiculous, in part because of comments that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a few weeks ago. He said that the city "self-insures," rather than buying insurance, because its analysis indicates that it's better to do so. Although I suspect insurance wouldn't have covered all of the losses the city has incurred, it still raises serious issues if the state is asking for aid simply because the city and state neglected to get an appropriate level of insurance. Bill Cunningham Boonton Township, N.J.

Value Play

To the Editor: The deal between Leucadia National and Jefferies Group ("Big Deal for a Baby Berkshire," Nov. 19) will create value in the end, if history is any guide. Ian Cumming and Joe Steinberg have made a lot of smart deals and have grown Leucadia's book value dramatically—if lumpily—by cash deals made over more than 30 years. But Warren Buffett would never have made any stock-for-stock deal in which he got less book value than he was giving. While some Jefferies holders may grumble about the scant premium to book they are receiving, it is the Leucadia shareholders who should be squawking: They are suffering an immediate and sizable dilution in this deal, trading Leucadia stock at 88% of book for Jefferies shares at 110% of book. Thomas Stone Steamboat Springs, Colo.

To the Editor: "Big Deal for a Baby Berkshire" is a nice narrative of Leucadia's main businesses. But it leaves out a delicious component that Berkshire doesn't have: four vineyards. As a stockholder, you get a 20% discount. George K. Marshall Philadelphia

A Warm Thank You

To the Editor: This 50-something, white, conservative Republican wishes to thank America's youth for sacrificing their financial futures and standards of living so that boomers, such as my wife and I, can look forward to a long and comfy retirement, which we could easily have afforded on our own. Now we have the youth as our guarantors and providers of that little extra something. ("The Enemy Within," Nov. 12.)

As reported in the national exit poll conducted by Edison Research, Americans aged 18 to 29 voted 60% to 36% for Barack Obama, rather than Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Prior to President Obama's re-election, I believed that it was morally wrong for my generation to pass a crushing national debt on to the next one.

The debt will top $20 trillion before Obama moves out of the White House, and it will include spiraling retirement-related costs that the administration has shown zero interest in bringing under control, largely driven by baby boomers piling into the Social Security and Medicare systems.